League of Legends Patch 26.13 Notes Overview — Buffs, Nerfs, and More

Every two weeks, we get a new League of Legends update to keep the game competitive and balanced. We do a bit of an overview about all of the changes, for those who want to learn more about the update without having to go too in-depth!

Here's Patch 26.13's notes, what changed, and more!

Buffs

Nine champions were buffed during the Patch 26.13. Here's all of them!

• Aphelios: Aphelios had a few nerfs last year that have reduced his favourability. Now, Riot Games is looking to give him some of his strength back, giving him a buff to four of his five weapons: Calibrum, Severum, Infernum, and Crescendum.
• Draven: With the marksman meta growing towards crit, on-hit, and caster builds, Draven's starting to fall behind. Instead of refocusing his building, he's getting a cooldown buff to his E - Stand Aside, reducing the cooldown by two seconds across all ranks, and decreasing the damage reduction on his R - Whirling Death.
• Kai'sa: Kai'sa's getting a substantial nerf to ensure she can reach the late game and excel. Her W - Void Seeker had its early cooldown reduced, and her R - Killer Instinct's shield was heavily increased from 70 / 90 / 110 to 100 / 150 / 200.
• LeBlanc: Riot Games is looking to reward players who can land her ultimate consistently. The damage to her R - Mimic is being raised across the board, including both instances of damage on her RQ and RE.
• Olaf: The Berserker has been struggling to get back into the Jungle, despite earlier buffs at the start of the year. To incentivise players who want to play him in the role, his Q - Undertow monster bonus physical damage has been increased, especially in the later levels.
• Poppy: Riot Games has been trying to diversify the jungle for a while, and the Fighter class has joined consistently, so they're looking to buff a possible counter-pick to incentivise further variety. Poppy's Q - Hammer Shock now has an incrased monster damage cap, meaning she can deal more % damage to foes.
• Qiyana: Also among the same vein, Riot Games is looking to bring more Assassins into the jungle, starting with Qiyana. Her Q - Edge of Ixtal had its Monster Damage increased from 155% to 175% to make her clearing easier, without meaningfully impacting her in lane.
• Vex: Vex is having a bit of a smaller impact than the team intended, so they're giving her a quality-of-life buff to her cooldowns and reset timers to give her more of a chance to take late playes. Her E - Looming Darkness' cooldown was reduced to 12 (from 13), and her R - Shadow Surge reset time window was increased to 8 seconds.
• Zaahen: Players are taking a bit of a liking to Zaahen, so Riot Games is looking to give him a bit more strength to get him in the hands of more summoners. To do this, his W - Dreaded Return had its cooldown decreased in the early game, but it remains the same at Rank 5.

Nerfs

Eight total champions received nerfs during Patch 26.13. Below, you can see the intended lane and ranks that the nerfs are aimed at.

• Bard Support (All Ranks): Throughout a big chunk of the season, Bard has been a pretty strong, tanky roaming support that deals truckloads of damage. In order to bring down his strength, his Passive - Traveler's Call has been nerfed to force him to depend on some AP in order to do as much damage.
• Brand Bot (Iron to Emerald 3): Brand continues to dominate on the botlane, making his early game pretty oppressive. To remedy this, his Passive - Blaze has been reduced in damage in the early levels, while his Base Mana Regeneration was increased from 9 to 11.
• Cassiopeia Mid (Pro leagues): As MSI and professional tournaments near, a lot of champions are facing nerfs to their high-level skill play. The first of these is Cassiopeia, who is having her HP reduced from 104 to 98, to reward the players who are able to lock her down.
• K'sante Top (Pro leagues): Also in the same vein, K'sante is being nerfed, as he's been a great user for Doran's Helm. To make him less viable, his E - Footwork's shield across both the baseline and bonus health % increase are being nerfed.
• Rek'sai Jungle (Diamond 1 to Challenger):Reki'sai has been quite strong throughout the higher ranks, so Riot Games is emphasising her early-to-mid burst windows. Her E - Furious Bite / Tunnel's physical damage across both base and scaling was reduced, and her bonus true damage was also brought down to 120% from 125%.
• Rumble Top (Pro leagues): Another champion being nerfed for the pro leagues, Rumble's reliability as a first blind-pick top laner has made him too much of a staple for too long. To bring this down a bit, his early game damage on Q - Flamespitter was nerfed across the board, with his AP scaling increased to 105%.
• Senna Bot (Iron to Emerald 3):  Senna's been a menace that's been using Doran's Helm when she wasn't meant to, making her tankier in lane and allowing her to reach her late-game reliably. She's also been abusing Shiv to refresh her Q cooldown, so the Cooldown Refund is being reduced from On Hit to On Attack, and her soul drop chance is being reduced whenever she's killing, but raised whenever an ally does the last hit.
• Sion Top (Pro leagues): Finally, Sion's early-lane power has been reduced a bit, while keeping his late-game scaling intact. To do this, his Q - Decimating Smash's minimum damage was reduced across the board, and his W - Soul Furnace's mana cost has been increased as well.

Item

Doran's Helm had a buff on Patch 26.11 that the team hoped would make it a more reliable item. However, the buff was overshot by a bit, and it became the standard pick-up for many champions, even those who weren't intended to use them (COUGH Senna COUGH).

To refocus it back to its intended audience, the Armor and Magic Resistance was reduced from 10 to 8, with its health increased from 140 to 150. This should ensure that champions who want all of the stats from Doran's Helm are able to make the most out of it, whilst reducing the Armor and Magic Resistance value for squishier champions.

 

On a different note, Imperial Mandate has struggled to be a comfortable purchase for supports. The build path has been modified to make it more comfortable for its users to take advantage of, and direct strength was taken away in favour of buffing strength.

On the economic side, the average price of the items that form the Imperial Mandate was reduced to accommodate the support gold income. Meanwhile, its AP was reduced from 65 to 60, and its Unique - Control and Unique - Command were buffed to 20 AH for Immobilizing Abilities and 7% Vulnerable, respectively.

 

Last Hit Indicator

Riot Games has been testing to make League of Legends a more accessible experience for players, and part of these changes is making the Last Hit Indicator a more commonplace element. Originally available only for Swiftplay and Co-op vs AI queues, it's now being promoted to be a little bit higher on the ladder.

Now, the Last Hit Indicator is being tested on Normal Draft games, where players will be able to know when they can safely hit a minion without missing it. Riot Games thinks that this shouldn't affect skill expression too much, and they're testing it out in a more competitive environment, not entirely ruling it out for Ranked in the future.